Draw Base Map

Use the Map Tools > Base Map > Draw Base Map menu option (BASEMAP2 GX) to define the layout dimensions and orientation for the current map surrounds. Make sure that the currently selected map is the one in which you want the base map to be drawn.

Draw Base Map dialog options

In the main dialog, you can set any of the following:

Map style	Choose a "figure" style, "map" style or "custom control file" layout. A "figure" map has a scale bar, North arrow and three-line title at the bottom of the map. A "map" style is intended for larger maps and will have a right margin and title block. The "custom control file" allows you to specify your own custom MAPPLOT control file. The default style is the style that was specified when the map was created. If the map style is changed, be careful to adjust the map margins to be appropriate for the new map. Script Parameter: MAP.STYLE
Map scale 1:	The true map scale. The displayed scale is the scale of the current map. If you change the scale, the map size will change. Script Parameter: MAP.SCALE
Map margins (cm)	The map margins can be specified in cm. Script Parameter: MAP.MARGIN_BOTTOM MAP.MARGIN_RIGHT MAP.MARGIN_TOP MAP.MARGIN_LEFT
Inside data margin	The inside data margin is the space to allow between the data extents and the data window. This provides room for things like profile plots and line survey annotations. You will not be prompted for an inside margin if the map is produced from lat/long. Script Parameter: MAP.MARGIN_INSIDE
Positive plot direction	This is the direction that is assumed to be up when vertical labels and profiles are plotted on the map. Script Parameter: MAP.UP_DIRECTION [ “right”- default, Left]
Vertical reference angle	This is the reference angle for choosing whether to plot a label or profile using the positive plot direction. The Positive Plot Direction will be used as the "up" direction for plotting data on lines steeper than this angle. Script Parameter: MAP.UP_ANGLE
Next	Click on the button to open the next dialog: the system displays either the Figure Style Base Map dialog or the Full Map Style Base Map dialog, depending on the style of your map.

Application Notes

If a clipping mask has been applied to the data view since the map was created, redrawing the base map will use the extents of the clipping region to determine the current data window extents. Further, if the inside data margin is changed, the clipping mask will be removed and it will be necessary to re-apply the clipping mask.

The BASEMAP2 GX makes use of the "figmap.con" and "fullmap.con" MAPPLOT control files, located in the etc subdirectory of the Geosoft\Desktop Applications directory. Users wishing to override these files with their own versions may place them in the %USERPROFILE%\Documents\Geosoft\Desktop Applications \etc folder.

Scripting Notes

The BASEMAP2 GX saves the "MAP" parameters defined in the dialogs to the Map’s registry, and uses them as defaults if the GX is subsequently run on the same map. If you run the GX from a script, the map’s registry values override the script’s parameter values, so changes made to these parameters in the script file have no effect.

In order to prevent this from happening when running BASEMAP2 in a script, e.g. in order to use the parameter settings in the script itself, instead of the parameters used to create the previous base map in the current map, use the following script setting before the call to the BASEMAP2 GX in your script.

For instance:

SETINI BASEMAP2.USESCRIPTSETTINGS=1

GX basemap2.gx